PHILADELPHIA — First, the big boss talked about assessing the “really tough spot” this Flyers team is in, and how they were going to start immediately changing things for next season. Then the general manager acknowledged that with the April 3 trade deadline looming, “it doesn’t make any sense” to make a move for a “rental player” for this season’s stretch drive.

Neither Ed Snider nor Paul Holmgren would say it was time to wave the white flag, but a feeling of surrender has been prevalent around this club in recent days. Perhaps that’s why it seemed so strange to see the Flyers fashion one of their most complete defensive efforts of the season Saturday against one of the best teams in the league, beating the Boston Bruins 3-1 at Wells Fargo Center.

Finally showing the need for their veteran players to help lead them out of the abyss, the Flyers couldn’t have been happier that seldom used former star Mike Knuble scored for the second time in two games to give them an early lead, and they couldn’t have been more grateful when veteran Ruslan Fedotenko threw a puck from the neutral zone into an open Bruins net to nail down only their third victory in 11 games.

It wouldn’t have happened without another sharp outing for Ilya Bryzgalov, who made 33 saves for the Flyers (14-17-3).

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“I think this was one of our best games,” Claude Giroux said. “We made sure we played 60 minutes of hockey. We were pretty responsible defensively. We need to play more games like this. It was pretty fun.”

Winning can be that, though in giving Holmgren a vote of confidence earlier in the day, it was clear that Snider is having less fun than a lot of people. Even then, Snider had issued a hue and cry of “not giving up,” even while Holmgren’s anticipated lack of action leading up to the trade deadline seems to say otherwise.

“I think if there’s something we can do right now that would help us now and in the future we’d talk about it,” Holmgren said. “Obviously,we’re not in a good position to go after rental players. It just doesn’t make any sense.”

At least for this one game over a Bruins team (21-8-4) that has actually lost five of its last seven games, the Flyers had an answer for that.

“Maybe he said that on purpose to spark some guys,” Zac Rinaldo said of Holmgren’s non-action agenda. “That’s the first time I’ve heard about it, just now, so maybe he’s doing the right thing. He’s telling it how it is and maybe it will spark some guys up.”

While any victory over those East beasts from Boston is worth noting, this upset felt especially different in that it came just one game after the Flyers gave up a two-goal lead to those much less beastly boys from Long Island.

“Kind of a tough season for us,” said Matt Read, who scored for the first time in 11 games. “A lot of ups and downs. But I think tonight is a momentum builder for our team. We just have to keep winning and try to make a playoff run. But we have to put this game behind us because (Sunday night) we have an important game with Washington.”

Oh, and did you know the Flyers have to win that game, too?

“I don’t think many people believe in us right now,” Jakub Voracek said, “but we showed that we can play everyone and I think we played a very good game today.”

In veering from a recent script which saw them lose their last four games and eight of their last 10, the Flyers for the second straight game scored the first two goals. Instead of melting in the third as they did here Thursday against the Islanders, however, they withstood a Nathan Horton rebound goal five minutes into the third and held on through a frantic finish.

Freed again from his coach’s scratch list, Knuble scored for a second straight game, converting on the power play at 15:19 of the first. Read doubled that edge with a goal at 3:18 of the second. Then after Horton’s goal caused several minutes of nervousness, Fedotenko provided the final goal for a visible sigh of relief with 59 seconds left to play.

For the optimists, the Flyers have gained points in two straight games. For the realists, they still share part of the 14th slot in the conference.

“It’s 14 games left,” Voracek said. “We know we have to get on a roll.”